Rockapella to rock the playhouse

Published 5:34 pm, Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Rockapella will perform at The Ridgefield Playhouse on Thursday, Dec. 12.

Rockapella will perform at The Ridgefield Playhouse on Thursday, Dec. 12.

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Rockapella to rock the playhouse

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Jeff Thacher said although it took years of practice, training his vocal chords to sound like a drum was not the most difficult part of becoming a skilled vocal percussionist (a musician who fulfills the role of a drummer in an a cappella group).

"As any drummer will tell you, the hard part is keeping steady time, holding down the beat, learning how to be funky and creative without interfering with the song," Thacher said.

Thacher will be drumming up a vocal storm when he performs with his acclaimed a cappella band Rockapella at the Ridgefield Playhouse on Thursday, Dec. 12.

With only five guys and microphones, Thacher and his bandmates will make a highly vocal argument that the best instrument is the human voice during this holiday-themed performance.

The show will feature holiday favorites like "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "The Dreidel Song," but with a funky edge and lots of choreography.

Rockapella rocketed to fame in the early 1990s as the house band on the hit PBS kids' game show, "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" The group also sang that show's catchy theme song.

When the group members decided to add a vocal percussionist in 1993, Thacher joined the party. In a recent interview he told us about the upcoming show and how he learned to flex his vocal muscles.

Q: Any particular favorite holiday songs in this show?

A: My favorite is "Angels We Have Heard On High," which we do not do slow, we do an up-tempo version. When a song is supposed to be joyful it can be funky and rhythmic and exhilarating, it doesn't have to be slow and sad. We do most of the famous Christmas songs, but we do them in the Rockapella style, which is a little more rhythmic and full of clever lyrics embedded in the backup vocals that you hear while you're listening to the lead.

Q: How did you learn how to be a vocal percussionist?

A: When I was a kid I made sound effects for my Lego spaceships and things like that. I grew up in a musical family, so it was a short step from there to mimicking drum sounds I heard on the radio and my brother would do the bass. We would do "Billy Jean," which has that iconic drum beat and bass line. Back then it was a thing that you never expected somebody to pay you for. Of course once the early '90s rolled around, the thought of doing mouth drums, full time within an a cappella group was born.

Q: How did you end up joining Rockapella?

A: One day I saw an audition ad for Rockapella. I knew who they were from some of the things they did on PBS and I knew they were unique. That was that, I ended up being the guy that gets to do it for two hours every night. Once you have to do it two hours every night you get a lot stronger, a lot faster, and you have to get creative. It goes from being something you do in the shower and walking around with your friends, to where it's an athletic activity. Just like a drummer of real drums would be athletic in the upper body, you have to be athletic in your mouth and your tongue and your lips, like a trumpet player is.

Q: The "Carmen Sandiego" theme song is still stuck in my head from when I was a kid. Do you guys get tired of performing it?

A: I think any band will look at a hit they had, and for lack of a better term it's a hit, they will look at a hit they had many years ago and they will be grateful for it and they will be obliged to perform it. If they refuse to, I think they're in denial. You have to do what people expect to a degree, and then you get permission to do more. We embrace it. It's a lot funkier and smoother than it was long ago, and it's gotten new life. Often I'll do a drum solo in the middle of it, so it takes on a moment-to-moment life. I think any band will tell you, when you perform something that familiar you have to enjoy the moment.

Erik Ofgang is a freelance writer in Connecticut; erikofgang@gmail.com